Friday Happy Hour: Best of the Week

Lots of great posts from our writing team this week, so here’s a Friday afternoon recap:

• Tommy did a great analysis of MLS season ticket prices.
• We talked to the only out gay man playing pro soccer right now, Anton Hysén .
• Brian Dunseth and Chris Wingert became Soccer Allies in a big way.
• Taylor Twellman and Jimmy Conrad became Soccer Allies, too, amongst many others.
• We got team updates from New York, Chivas USA, and Toronto.
• We got to know our new Philadelphia writer Janine.
• Jon analyzed the US Men’s National Team’s  pair of friendlies.
• Finally, you had your say in the Donovan vs. Dempsey debate.

Have a good weekend!

We’re gay4dunny and gay4wingert.

We love and are grateful for everyone on our Allies List, but last night two members of the MLS family took some time out of their days to do something special, and we wanted to take note of it, as well as give them a thank-you.

They are former  MLS player and current Real Salt Lake and Fox Soccer analyst Brian Dunseth and Real Salt Lake Defender Chris Wingert. Dunseth also keeps us looking good and well informed as the co-owner of Bumpy Pitch and The Original Winger.

So what did they do? They participated in the NOH8 Campaign’s first photo shoot in Salt Lake City, at Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church.

The NOH8 Campaign was born as a silent protest to the passage of Proposition 8 in California, but since then has grown to stand for GLBT equality far beyond the issue of marriage. Over 20,000 people from all walks of life have participated in NOH8. Subjects are photographed with a temporary “NOH8” tattoo and duct tape placed over their mouth.

For anyone interested in being in one of the future shoots – and there are a bunch this year in or near MLS cities – we heard from Dunny who said it was a “really cool experience.”

Dunseth and Wingert are the fourth and fifth soccer personalities to participate in the Campaign, following in the footsteps of Portland’s Mike Chabala, Chivas USA’s Michael Lahoud, and Montreal’s Justin Braun. You can check out their pictures on the Allies Page and we look forward to seeing the results of last night’s shoot!